Tobacco press



Dec. 25, 1934.

F. M. HAYES TOBACCO PRESS 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 9,

Patented Dec. 25, 1934 UNITED STATES] PATENT" OFFICE Claims.

5 bruising the leavesor otherwise mutilating them.

A further object of the invention is to provide a press wherein the leaves will be pressed fiat without undue bending thereof and wherein the pressure exerted on the leaves will be entirely under manual control. I I

And the invention seeks, as a still further obiect, to provide a press embodying an improved pressing lead which will be comparatively light in weight and, at the same time, entirely sturdy in its construction and wherein improved means will be provided for latching the head after it has been swung to compress the tobaccoleaves.

Other and incidental objects, not particularly mentioned in the foregoing, will be apparent during the course of the following description.

In the accompanying drawings: i 1 Figure l is a side elevation of my improved press,

Figure 2 is a plan view of the press,

Figure 3 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view through the press particularly showing the pressing head,

Figure 4 is a transverse sectional view on th line 44 of Figure 3, and I 7 Z figure/5 is a detail perspective view showing the manner in which the hands of tobacco are arranged upon the sticks.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, I employ an oblong rack which includes suitably spaced transverse sills '10, .and uprights ll bolted or otherwise secured at the end portions of said sills. Extending between the uprights at the forward end of the rack is a preferably sheet metal end wall 12 andoverlying said end wall are vertically spaced end slats 13 secured to said uprights.

Extending longitudinally of the rack, at the sides thereof, are vertically spaced side bars 14 above the uppermost of which are arranged sim ilar hanger bars 15. These bars extend in parallel relation from. end to end of the rack and areappropriately secured to the uprights 11, it being observed in this connection that the uprights at the middle of the rack are shorter than the uprights at the end of the rack and terminate at the upper edges of the bars 15. Bracing these center uprights as well as the uprights'at the rear end of the rack are bracing straps 16 extending between the ends of the adjacent sills of the rack and said uprights. overlying, the

bars 14 and at their inner sides are preferably sheetmetalside walls 17. Suitably fixed to said bars andextending between the upper'ends of the uprightsa-t the ends of the rack in spaced parallel relation to the bars-l5 are top bars 18 suitably fixed at their ends to said uprights. The bars 18, as particularly seen in Figure 4, are somewhat heavier in construction than the bars 14 and 15, and opening through the upper edges of the bars 18 are longitudinally spaced slots 19. Overlying the upper edges of the bars 18 at their forward ends are binding straps 20 which extend downwardly across the end portions of the end slats 13, and overlyingxthe upper edges of the bars 18, at their rear ends, are binding straps 21 which extend downwardly for a short distance along the rear faces of the pair of uprights 11 at the rear of the rack. Itis now to be noted that the rack is open at the bottom thereof and extending from end to end of the rack, across the sills 10, is a medially disposed rack bar 22 firmly fixed to said'sills. In the present instance, I have shown saidbar as being formed of wood and overlying the teeth of the bar, at its upper edge, is-a' metal protecting strip 23. However, if preferred, the entire bar may be formed of metal, in which event theprovision. of the strip 23 will be unnecessary.

Removably supported by the bars 18 of the rack is a pressing head 24 swingingly received between the side walls 1-? of the rack. This head 24 is preferably formed of laminated wood so that, without -sacrificing'strength, the head may be made correspondingly light in weight, and overlying the forwardface of the head is a metal face plate 25 appropriately secured to said head.

- Extending vertically of the head 24, .at its rear side,'is a medially disposed reinforcing strip 26 bent over at its upper 'end to provide a short strap 27, and abutting said strap, at its inner end, --is a rearwardly projecting handle 28 extending at substantially'a right angle to the head. Fixed to the head, beneath the inner end of the handle, is an angle plate 29 and extending through the plate and through the strap 27 is a-bc'lt-or like fastening device BO rigidly securing the handle to the'head. Extendingvertically at the rear side of the head, near the ends thereof, are reinforcing straps 31 bent over at their upper ends to provide hinge loops 32 while, at their lower ends, said straps are bent obliquely to provide braces 33 extending between the lower margin of the head and the handle 28, the upper ends of said braces being suitably fixed to the handle.

Thus, the handle will be rigidly sustained in angular relation to the head, and extending through the loops 32 of the straps 31 is a hinge rod 34 resting at its ends in a pair of the notches 19 and swingingly supporting the head within the rack.

At its lower end, the strip 26 is bent laterally to provide a lug 35 and secured to the strip above said lug is an angle plate providing a laterally directed lug 36 extending in spaced parallel relation to the lug 35. Slidable through said lugs is a catch 37 and surrounding the stem of said catch to act against the lug 36 is a spring 38 pressing the catch downwardly to coact with the rack bar 22. Pivoted upon the lever 28, near its free end, is a hand lever 39, and pivoted upon the lever 28, near its inner end, is a bell crank 40. Extending between the lever 39 and one end of the bell crank is a rod 41 and extending between the other end of the bell crank and the catch 37 is a similar rod 42. and rocking the lever 39 upwardly with the hand, the catch 37 may, as will be appreciated, be moved out of engagement with the rack bar 22, Whereupon the head 24 may be freely swung.

In use, the lever 28 is swung upwardly, as suggested in dotted lines in Figure 3, until said lever rests across the forward end wall of the rack, so that the head 24 will be in an inverted position out of the way. The usual hands of tobacco, as typically illustrated at 43, which hands are formed of bunches of the freshly stripped leaves, are arranged upon sticks 44 and said sticks, as seen in Figure 2, are arranged in parallel relation to rest at their ends upon the hanger bars 15 so that the leaves of tobacco are supported by the sticks to depend within the rack. As many sticks of tobacco may thus be arranged in position as will be-conveniently accommodated by the rack, when the hinge rod 34 is moved back along the top bars 18 and engaged in a pair of the notches 18 immediately at the rear of the rearmost stick. The lever 28 is then grasped and swung downwardly, as seen in Figure 3 of the drawings, for rocking the head 24 forwardly to compress the hands of tobacco and since the lever 28 is entirely under manual control, the pressure exerted on the tobacco leaves may be regulated to a nicety so that bruising of the leaves or mutilation thereof may be efiectually avoided. Furthermore, it is to be noted that the head 24, when swung forwardly, will exert the greatest pressure on the lower end portions of the leaves which naturally are the most bulky so that the hands of tobacco will be pressed fiat without forming any angular bends in the pressed leaves. As the head 24 is swung forwardly by the lever 28, the catch 37 will ride over the rack bar 22 and engage the said bar for locking the head in advanced position so that by allowing the hands of tobacco to stand in the press over night, or longer if desired, the tobacco leaves will be effectually pressed. Then, by operating the lever 39, the catch 3'7 may be easily retracted and the head 24 returned to its inverted inoperative position to permit removal of the pressed tobacco from the press.

It will accordingly be seen that I have provided a particularly effective device for the pur- Thus, by grasping the lever 28 pose set forth and while I have illustrated the preferred embodiment of the invention, still, it is to be understood that I reserve the right to make such changes, alterations or improvements therein as may fall within the spirit of the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, I claim:

1. A tobacco press including a rack having side walls and an end wall, a pressing head supported by the rack to swing between said side walls, a reinforcing strip carried by'tne head, a lever rigidly fixed to said strip and manually operable for swinging the head forwardly, and latching means carried by the strip for securing the head against rearward movement.

2. A tobacco press including a rack having side walls and an end wall, a rack bar extending longitudinally of the rack, a pressing head supported by the rack to swing between said side walls, a reinforcing strip carried by the head and bent at one end to form a strap, a lever rigidly fixed to said strap and manually operable for swinging the head forwardly, the opposite end of the strip providing a lug, a second lug carried by the strip, and a catch slidably supported by said lugs to coact with said bar for securing the head against rearward movement.

3. A tobacco press including a rack having side walls and an end wall, a rack bar extending longitudinally of the rack, a pressing head supported by the rack to swing between said side walls, a reinforcing strip carried by the head and bent at one end to form a strap, a lever rigidly fixed to said strap and manually operable for swinging the head forwardly, the opposite end of the strip providing 2. lug, a second lug carried by the strip, a catch slidably supported by said lugs to coact with said bar for securing the head against rearward movement, and a hand lever pivoted upon said first-mentioned lever and operatively connected with the catch whereby the hand lever may be swung for retracting the catch and releasing the head.

4. A tobacco pressincluding a rack having side walls and an end wall, a pressing head extending freely between said side walls, a lever rigidly fixed to the head, reinforcing straps carried by the head, corresponding ends of said straps providing loops and opposite corresponding ends of said straps providing braces for said lever, and a hinge rod extending through said loops and coacting with the rack for swingingly supporting the head, said lever being manually operable for swinging the head.

5. A tobacco press including a rack having side walls and an end wall, a pressing head pivotally supported at its upper end to swing between the side walls toward and from the end wall, a lever rigidly secured to said head adjacent the upper end thereof and projecting therefrom in a direction away from the end wall, latching means mounted on the head for securing the head against movement from the end wall, and means carried by the lever for releasing said latching means.

FRANK M. HAYES. [L. 5.1 

